Daley Thompson Gets on His Bike to Launch Personal Crusade Against Crime

7/2/2009

LONDON, July 2, 2009 – Olympic decathlon legend and Laureus World Sports Academy member Daley Thompson is embarking on a 367-mile cycle ride starting in Manchester and finishing at 10 Downing Street in London to highlight the solutions sport can provide to the growing problems of UK youth crime and in particular gang violence.

Daley will be joined at various stages of the ride - which begins at Manchester United’s football stadium Old Trafford on Wednesday, July 8 - by supporters including Sebastian Coe, Tessa Jowell, Gary Player, Matthew Pinsent, Sean Fitzpatrick, Hugo Porta, Roger Black and Kris Akabusi.

The ride will finish on Tuesday, July 14 at 10 Downing Street where Richard Taylor, the father of murdered teenager Damilola Taylor, now Gordon Brown's Special Envoy on knife crime, will receive a report, specially commissioned by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, on the role which sport can play in fighting the evil of gang violence and gun and knife crime.

The report – ‘Laureus - Breaking the Cycle of Violence’ – makes recommendations and calls on all politicians, professional sports clubs and community sports facilities to recognise and invest in sport as an effective mechanism for tackling the growing problem of youth crime and gang violence.

During the seven days of the ride, which will route through Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Newbury and Brent, Daley Thompson will visit community projects which use sport to keep young people off the streets and provide positive life lessons.

Daley Thompson has been a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy since it was founded ten years ago and he has visited projects all over the world which bear testament to sport as a tool for social change. He was inspired to focus on the issue of gangs by the research report, commissioned by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which demonstrated the similarities between sport and gangs.

He said: “The report really struck a chord. A gang is actually not that different from a sports team, both provide you with a sense of belonging, status and excitement. But, while sport also helps you develop control over your emotions and learn to respect certain boundaries, being in a gang can be destructive.”

Written in collaboration with the research agency Substance, the report draws on research and project experience gained by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation over the past ten years, and articulates how sports initiatives can be designed to meet the challenge of urban youth violence.

It demonstrates that sporting activities aimed at gang members will be most successful if they work with the existing hierarchies of the gang, involve peer mentors who are realistic role models, and ensure that the project is firmly rooted within the local community.

Edwin Moses, Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy, said: “I have visited over 200 sport and development projects during my ten years as Chairman and seen with my own eyes the unique ability of sport to transform the most complex of social challenges. The report that Daley will deliver to Downing Street reinforces what we know instinctively to be true. It is time for governments, communities and sports fans to get behind sport as a positive solution to a number of social problems.”

And Rt Hon Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Olympics, said: “I have seen young people from deprived backgrounds go on to achieve great things through participation in projects such as London Active Communities. The potential for sport to benefit our nation’s young people is enormous.”

The full itinerary of the Manchester to London cycle route is:

Wednesday, July 8: First Stage, Manchester to Stoke-on-Trent – 52 miles
09.00hrs – Daley Thompson departs Manchester United FC, Old Trafford, M16 0RA
17.00hrs approx – Arrives Stoke-on-Trent, location tbc
18.00hrs – Visit to Streetgames, Norton Sports Court, Norton Lane, Stoke-on-Trent ST6 8BZ

Thursday, July 9: Second Stage, Stoke-on-Trent to Coventry – 76 miles
09.00hrs - -Daley Thompson departs Port Vale FC, Burslem, ST6 1AW
17.00hrs approx – Arrives Coventry, location tbc
18.00hrs – Visit to Sporting Futures, John Gulson School, Eagle Street, Coventry, CV1 4GY

Friday, July 10: Third Stage, Coventry to Milton Keynes – 50 miles
09.00hrs – Daley Thompson departs Sporting Futures
14.30hrs approx – Arrives Mercedes-Benz UK head office, Charter Way, Tongwell, MK15 8BA

Saturday, July 11: Fourth Stage, Milton Keynes to Oxford – 70 miles
08.30hrs – Visit to Mathisen Youth Centre, Mathisen Road, Bradeille, Milton Keynes, MK13 7AG
10.00hrs - Daley Thompson departs Mathisen Youth Centre
17.00hrs approx – Arrives Trax motor sport project, Red Barn Farm, Woodstock Rd, Oxford, OX2 8JR

Sunday, July 12: Fifth Stage, Oxford to Newbury – 41 miles
09.00hrs – Daley Thompson departs Trax motor sport project
14.00hrs approx – Arrives Narco Riverside Centre, Rosemoor Gardens, Newbury, RG14 2FG

Monday, July 13: Sixth Stage, Newbury to Brent – 64 miles
09.00hrs – Daley Thompson departs Vodafone Head Office, The Connection, Newbury, RG14 2FN
16.30hrs approx – Arrives Brent, location tbc
17.30hrs – Visit to Hornstars, The Pavilion, Stonebridge Recreation Ground, Hillside, NW10 8LW

Tuesday, July 14: Final Stage, Wembley Stadium to 10 Downing Street – 14 miles
09.00hrs – Daley Thompson departs Wembley Stadium, routes via Hyde Park and Millbank
12.00hrs – Visit to London Active Communities Urban Stars, Lillian Bayliss Old School, Lollard Street, Kennington, London SE11 6PY
13.30hrs – Daley Thompson Cycle Ride finishes at 10 Downing Street

Daley Thompson is one of the members of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a unique association of 46 of the greatest living sporting legends. The Academy members volunteer their time to act as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation by using their influence to highlight the plight of disadvantaged children and supporting humanitarian projects around the world.

The mission of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is to utilise the power of sport to address social challenges through a global programme of sports related community development initiatives, using sport as a tool for social change. The Foundation supports almost 70 projects worldwide and since its inception Laureus has raised €20 million for projects which have helped to improve the lives of one million young people.

Laureus is a universal movement that celebrates the power of sport to bring people together as a force for good. Laureus is composed of three core elements - the Laureus World Sports Academy, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Laureus World Sports Awards - which collectively celebrate sporting excellence and harness the power of sport to promote social change.

In addition to the Global partners Mercedes Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone, Laureus and Daley Thompson would like to thank the following for their invaluable assistance; Mercedes-Benz UK, Evans, IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group), Jarvis Hotel Group, Star Trac, Lucozade and Six Physio in helping to stage the ride.

For more information on this press release please contact: publicrelations@laureus.com

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